PEOPLES GAS AGREES TO DEAL ON SHUT-OFFS

Peoples Gas agreed Tuesday to contribute an additional $1 million to help people unable to pay record-high heating bills.

The contribution was part of a package of concessions to activists led by Rev. Jesse Jackson, who in turn agreed to call off planned blockades of gas company trucks set to begin disconnecting some of the 14,000 customers who have not made payments since before Dec. 1.

The company agreed to double to $2 million its contribution to a fund for people in arrears on their bills, on the condition that the city and state match the figure. Late Tuesday city officials pledged to match it, bringing Chicago's contribution to $6 million.

Dennis Culloton, Gov. George Ryan's press secretary, said the state had not heard of the proposal late Tuesday but is not ruling it out.

"We are, of course, anxious to hear more details of what they propose," Culloton said. "Our solution to the heating problem faced by the people of Illinois is the $80 million that we asked for in the supplemental appropriations request for LIHEAP [Low-Income Heating Emergency Assistance Program], which is the program that provides assistance for people with their energy bills."

The agreement came on the same day that an Illinois Commerce Commission report concluded that Chicago's high natural gas prices were a matter of supply and demand, not a case of price gouging.

"We have found no evidence of collusive activity," said Thomas Kennedy, manager, policy programs, in the ICC's energy division.

Rather, "a perfect storm of low storage, decreased drilling and cold weather were responsible for these high prices this past winter," Kennedy said.

Peoples will start cutting off service Wednesday to some of the 200 vacant homes and customers who have flatly refused to pay their bills, but the company reiterated that it will hold off on shutting off service to customers in the energy assistance program.

The utility also agreed to hold three town meetings to discuss customer concerns about meter readings, and it agreed to check with the city Health Department about potential shut-offs to make sure they are not ending service for people with health problems.

But Luis Diaz-Perez, a spokesman for Peoples Energy, stressed that it is up to the customers who might be eligible for the heating assistance program to sign up for the program or risk being shut off.

Jackson said he is planning to meet with Ryan on Wednesday. The meeting with Ryan could not be confirmed.

The ICC report found that during the most recent winter heating season, September 2000 through April 2001, natural gas prices increased roughly 200 percent statewide over the same period of the previous year.

In addition, the report expressed concern that utilities may not be accurately estimating customer bills.

Leijuana Doss, an assistant state's attorney with the environment and energy division, was critical of the report.